Why Do We Still Watch?

Simple, I love the NBA and the Sixers are my team, no matter what. I think that I gained a little more patience when the Phillies won the World Series because it was like, "OK, this can happen with all of my favorite teams eventually." Still, I played basketball and it is my favorite sport by far. It's gotta be the best and most exciting time when you have a basketball team go deep into the playoffs. The '01 team was probably my favorite team ever and I wanted to have a parade for them anyway after they lost to that machine of a Lakers team. I went to a couple games in the playoffs and just the intensity of the crowd was unreal.

I know they are so far from reaching that level, but I still love watching basketball. I went to the game the other night and was interested by a million little parts of the game. I can enjoy a lot of different things within a basketball game.

Finally, it stinks that there is not a large passionate fan base for the 76ers. I know a ton of people who have checked out on the 76ers when they are bad, but it will make it all the more worth it when they are good again. Just like everyone else here and unlike the bandwagon fans, we cared when Eddie Jordan was the coach of this team and that makes us better fans that just enjoy basketball. Even though it's a small group, it's a good group too, even though I think some of you are completely wrong a lot of the time!

Eddie Jordan is a bumbling fool. I watch the Sixers for the pure enjoyment of heckling him. Forget heckling the players on the opposing teams...EJ does far more damage to the Sixers than they ever could.

I haven!t missed watching a game the last 5 years, if I am going out I tape them but this year , though I start out watching every game my finger wanders to the remote at times to switch to another game when stupid lineups are used. The other night I switched to watch Hibbert outplay Dw. Howard for a quarter or so but I keep putting them back on hoping to see our coach come to his senses.Moments like going to Willie instead of Jrue when our guards are getting abused usually bring my finger to the remote.

I've only recently come to terms with myself and have started rooting against the team. Like at Denver the other day, we didn't deserve to win that game and I was hoping we would lose. If not for the chance at John Wall, at least for Eddie Jordan's incompetence to be so blatantly obvious, Stefanski has no other choice but to fire him.

I'm a total hoop head, and I like to watch teams grow in potential. Last year was a breath of fresh air and it makes moves like signing elton brand to max money so frustrating because it was like, WAIT DONT SPEND THE MONEY YET, LET THIS TEAM DEVELOP FIRST AGHHHHHHHHHh.

The gift and the curse of the nba team is you know your players so well because you only get 8 or so players per team. When you know that they are dogging it, it hurts even more, but makes the payoff so much more.

2001 was so much more sweat knowing I had watched them back when it was Mad max, Barros, Weatherspoon and company. Hopefully we won't have to wait all that long for the next resurgence, and personally I enjoy the ride up almost more than anything.

Problem right now is that they have not yet started on the way up, but I don't think the coach or GM realizes it.

I am probably the opposite of most posters here. Not a hoops die hard. Actually, I only started getting back into the Sixers after reading this blog 2-3 years ago and getting caught up in what Brian saw as the potential of a youthful, energetic team, moving in the right direction. Wins and losses didn't really matter, it was watching a young team develop with the potential to step function the franchise to a new level of success. Brian, your insights gave hope to a casual fan looking to come back to the game.

Now, this year is more than a step back, it seems to have halted all forward momentum. No more hope. No more moving in the right direction. No more building a franchise for longer-term success. Before, I was willing to support a losing team (or barely .500 team) with the hope of a future. Now, I would rather save my time, money and energy on something else. I just don't care right now. Sure, call me a fair-weather fan, but it is what it is.

It occurred to me several times during that Wizards/Sixers game the other night that this may possibly be the worst matchup in the league right now, and how the Sixers are probably approaching unwatchable status for a lot of fans.

Pretty soon they're going to reach the Nets level, and start marketing for out-of-town fans to come to the Wach and root for players on the other team.

I saw that Cooney piece. I had to laugh though reading Jordan's comments about defense.

For me it is simple. As they say in poker I am all in. I have had season tix for about 8 yrs.now and the finacial aspects keeps me going and Basketball and the Sixers is my favorite. However when you get this bad you get to a point where maybe it is not worth it anymore ? I can see that happening unless they get rid of Jordan.

I didn't really answer Brian and I think I fall somewhere in the middle of what people are saying. I didn't invest in the league pass this year right away like I usually do, even though I usually only catch a qtr and a half of most games being on the west coast (taping them never really works, just builds up on the DVR :), so I was waiting to see how the season started before deciding to invest that 169 dollars. I had no 'interest' in wins and losses this year but was more interested to see how brand fit in, how jrue and speights and thad development helped, how the sixers continued to improve where they could over the past two seasons.

But obviously I still 'pay attention', I do watch them WHEN they've been on (I'll see clipper games, laker games, and a few others if they get on NBA TV again) and been into the games and I try and inhale as much writing out there as I can but at this point, until jordan (and probably stefanski) are gone, I have no hope for the success of this franchise going forward, but as a fan(atic) you don't give up on the teams you root for...

This is related to yesterday's post, but Phil Jackson said he doesn't want to be a GM after this season (if he doesn't come back to coach), mainly because he doesn't want to deal w/ agents and have to lie to people. He might be a really good guy to fill that President of Basketball Operations role I was talking about yesterday.

California dreaming. There is no way a name like that is going to fall through the door to this mess. The NBA is a family, they know the little idiosyncrasies of other Owners, GM's, coaches, etc. Everyone knows how bad it is here right now, it's just too shameful for the national media to even cover it. We're going to have to take baby steps in the right direction for a while to get a big name to take a job here after these last couple months, especially if management keeps dragging ass to fix it.

But with the right guy things can change - if ownership finally gets fed up and will give the keys to someone they trust or have faith in.

Look to the red skins - they have hired bruce allen and mike shanahan - after years of daniel snyder seemingly being too involved and an idiot - I think it represents a realization that Snyder should sign the checks and get out of the way - Jerry Jones some day will learn that too.

Hiring a president of basketball operations with carte blanche to run basketball would be a change of how the sixers have done business in the past - that could lure in someone otherwise 'ungettable'

I still watch for the same reason I'm taking the time to write right now. Its the Philadelphia 76ers. No matter how shameful, horrible, or undesirable they become, or how high they rise, I will always curse or cheer with them. I don't think I have a choice, its ingrained. I've invested far too much of my life to just give up when they are shit.

I love basketball, I live in northern Delaware, what the hell else am I supposed to do, buy a Blue Rock's jersey and cheer on a minor league baseball team?

Very good question, Brian. I bought season tickets and started watching every game a couple years ago when they were in the playoffs. I use to watch from time to time.

The reason I started is I wanted to see this team go from mediocre to higher end over years. I am now only watching to see Jrue play. If he gets benched, I believe that would be my final straw. I like the young guys (M16 is good but too Sammy like at times).

I still watch, but not as often, and not nearly with the enjoyment I used to have in years past. I used to look forward to game nights; it would carry me through a lousy day knowing the Sixers were on. Now I watch, when I do, out of a misplaced sense of obligation. Like I've put so many years into this team that I have to stick around. Plus, I do like watching Jrue (when he gets on the court) and Brand, and I can't wait to see what Brand will do once Jordan is gone and he can actually play the minutes he deserves. I'll be excited again for this team once there's someone different coaching.

Maybe I'm wrong, but for the past few years I've felt the Hawks were comparable to the Sixers. Kind of middle of the pack in the east, with a lot of young talent, a scrappy and athletic squad. It's been crushing to see them go in the right direction while the Sixers are regressing.

It's disheartening to watch this team, I just hope If/When this team actually rises to prominence, i can look back at the times i watched this awful product, and it'll be that much sweeter.

Hoops Addict. Unlike the Mo years, I cannot watch the big picture anymore. Jordan has taken that from us. So any Macro observations are out.

I watch now to catch those snap shots of the young players doing work. Watching Jrue make a play for someone else. Watching Dala dominate on D, get the board, power out on the break and making something happen. Thad getting touches on the block and becoming a whirling dervish. Speights on a scoring binge.

I also like the glimpses of the possible future, when I see Speights is grabbing rebounds and taking charges, when Jrue is locking up All-Star PGs routinely. When Thad actually challenges his matchup on defense and makes them work(i.e. against Ray Allen during the end of Celtics win), or when Dala is slashing to the lane for an And-1 or hitting the open 3. I even like when Sammy is having a Good Sam game, because it reminds me of what this team could look like with a true defensive anchor.

Beyond that, wins and losses means nothing. Its like what people used to say about MJ on the road; People used to come to games hoping to see MJ drop 50 while the home team won.

For the Sixers, I hope the young players play well while Jordan loses. Washington was a good example.

I actually heard the same thing on 610 but it was a caller that brought it up. The guys on the show couldn't find anything like that. I got home and right away checked to see if I could find it. Too bad, no luck.

I'm watching so I can witness when every player not named Willie Green, Marreese Speights, and Lou Williams collectively tunes out and visibly ignores Eddie Jordan. It has to start from the top. Iguodala, Brand, and Dalembert need to turn on Jordan. When 180 million is tied up in three players (two of them arguably untradeable) and ALL of them are tuning out the coach I feel like management won't have a choice but to remove the coaching staff

I'm really eager to see this team match up with Minnesota in a few weeks. It'll be a nice measuring stick as to how bad this team really is. If they go into that game on a losing streak and end up falling to Minnesota, that could be the bitter end to EJ's tenure as your head basketball coach.

BTW Am I the only one who hears Eddie Jordan and gets Sarah Palin flashbacks?

I mean, the fact that practically every major local news outlet is using his rambling block paragraph on his "rotations" as a stand-alone statement reminds me of how Tina Fey used to just graft whole sections of Palin speeches for her impersonations, without needing to change much, if at all, for the comedic effect.

As far as the Sixers go, I have been a fan ever since my dad took me to a game and picked me up to watch Charles Barkley throw down a two-handed slam dunk on a break away. It was beautiful, and I haven't been able to stop watching since.

At this point I don't completely know why I still have to watch every single game, but I will say that this blog and the constant analysis helps keep me interested.

I do still have faith in our young core and believe it will eventually develop (with a different coach!), so like others I'm tuning in to catch glimpses of what it could be like one day in the future.

I still refuse to root for losses in an attempt to get a high draft pick, but every game it gets harder not to. I am a firm believer in the fact that the Sixers will need to get a top draft pick and make good use of it if they ever want to be good. Unfortunately, I'm not so sure this is the year a top pick will make a world of difference.

And of course I'll always turn on a game to see Iverson play. Even if he's 80 years and using a walker to push a basketball down the floor. Can't stop, won't stop.

I've been a Sixer fan since Wilt played. I live and die with the Sixers. Games are painful now, but I watch at least part of every game. I enjoy it when they are doing well individually or as a group. I too look for improvement in Jrue, Thad, Mareese and Lou and hope every day to boot up and see that Jordan has been fired. I've never wished for a coach to be fired before. I've always had hope. I lost hope back in a game when the Sixers were up two, a timeout was called and Jordan left Kapono in to defend the last possession of the game. I'll continue to watch.

I believe the right coach could salvage this team. I don't want a retread coach with a mediocre record. I want someone who has not had a shot who might turn out to be a hall of fame coach. I'm not sure Collins or Van Gundy have that potential. There was an ESPN article about NFL that said there are no great coaches who have failed with 2 different teams. Maybe that applies to basketball also.

Hey Brian, I seriously look forward to your posts everyday! It is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise smog filled Sixer world! I became a Sixer fan when MJ retired from the Bulls. I've loved them ever since. However, a few things really drive me nuts:

1) Obviously EDDIE JORDAN!!! This guy takes the cake for the worst possible person to be in charge of anything!

2) AI9 is starting to get under my skin with his on court attitude. He always looks like he's going to cry. He really needs to man up and lead this team. If I were his coach, I would make him watch game film and see how his body language is that of a loser.

3) Marc Zumoff is a jack-ass! "Green heaves up a HEALTHY THREE!!" What the f**K is that? I cannot stand that little shit. He actually makes me want to go to the games to sit through this 3-ring circus just so I don't have to listen to him.

4) The media: beyond Kate Fagan, everyone in the media seems to be giving this guy (EJ) a free pass. Why doesn't anyone beyond us care.